Make a fluffy and creamy bowl of Mashed Red Potatoes with this easy recipe. No peeling necessary and you whip them right in the pot!
One-pot
Minimal prep
You’ll Learn: How to adjust the salt if making ahead
Worth It: It’s a fast, flexible option
Bonus: Use a hand mixer to save time and cleanup
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
- No peeling! – The most annoying part of making mashed potatoes is taking the time to peel each potato before you boil them. Thankfully the skin of the red potatoes is thin enough that it does not need to be peeled off before cooking. Dice, boil and whip the potatoes with the skin intact. Leaving the skin on also adds a little extra fiber in the final dish.
- Less dishes to clean – This entire mashed red potatoes recipe gets cooked and made all in one pot. Boil the potatoes, drain the water and then whip them with a hand mixer in the same pot where they were cooked. Skip the potato masher or potato ricer and let the hand mixer do all the work.This leaves you with less dishes to clean at the end and more time to enjoy the meal.
- Customizable – Each person likes their mashed potatoes a little different. Use this simple mashed red potato recipe as a base and put your own spin on it. Swap the sour cream for greek yogurt, use extra butter or add roasted garlic to the pot.
Serving Suggestions
These creamy mashed red potatoes are truly the ultimate easy side dish. Serve them alongside some of your favorite comfort foods like an oven baked chuck roast, instant pot roast pork or flavorful pan seared chicken breast.
Serve them at Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner alongside this slow cooker turkey breast. Plus, make this apple cranberry sauce as another easy side. With those two recipes, your holiday prep work will be a breeze!
Make them for meal prep and pack a scoop of mashed red potatoes for lunch each day alongside a slice of air fryer meatloaf and roasted brussels sprouts.
Ingredients
- Red potatoes – red skin potatoes are essential for this recipe. They have thin and tender skin that do not affect the texture of the mashed potatoes. You could also use yukon gold potatoes or yellow baby potatoes in the same way.
- Kosher salt – it is essential to salt the water that you are boiling the potatoes in. If you do not salt this water, the end result will be bland. After the red potatoes are mashed, add more salt in small pinches until you reach your desired taste.
- Whole milk – You can use 2% milk or even heavy cream for the dairy of this recipe depending on how light or how rich you want the potatoes to be
- Unsalted butter – I like to use plain unsalted butter for this recipe. You can use salted butter, garlic infused butter or even an herbed compound butter to add lots of flavor to this smashed potatoes.
- Sour cream – sour cream adds a nice tang and depth of flavor to this simple recipe. For extra protein, you can use Greek yogurt instead.
Looking for a classic mashed potato recipe? Try these easy creamy mashed potatoes made with russet potatoes.
Recipe Variations
Make a delicious garlic mashed red potato by adding roasted garlic to the pot when you whip the potatoes. You can use previously made garlic confit or roast an entire head of garlic in the oven and then pop out a few of the cloves for the mashed potatoes.
You could also pour some fresh herbs like rosemary or thyme into the pot along with the garlic cloves.
Add cheddar, bacon bits and scallion to make them loaded potatoes. To do this, I like to first mash the potatoes. Then, I top them with a layer of shredded cheese, crispy bacon bits and freshly sliced scallions and put them under the broiler just to melt the cheese.
How To Make
Step 1: Cube Red Potatoes and Place in a Pot
To begin, wash and cube red potatoes with the skin on (Image 1). Place them in a large pot and cover with cold water. Stir in the salt (Image 2).
Step 2: Boil and Drain Potatoes
Then, place the pot on the stove top over high heat and bring the water to a boil (Image 3). Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes.
Next, check to make sure the potatoes are fork tender. Drain and immediately return to the pot while still hot (Image 4).
Step 3: Mix and Serve
Place the milk, butter and sour cream in the pot and cover with the lid for a few minutes and allow the butter to melt (Image 5).
Mix in the pot with an electric hand mixer until smooth and fluffy or until they have reached your desired consistency (Image 6). Taste your mashed red potatoes and add salt as needed
Expert tip – Salt at the End
In my experience, mashed potatoes get saltier the longer they sit. If you are making these ahead of time, wait to add salt until just before you serve them.
Add a pinch of salt, mix and taste the mashed red potatoes. Continue adding little bits of salt at a time until you have reached your desired salt level.
Garnish with fresh herbs, fresh chives or green onions and a bit of fresh cracked black pepper and serve!
Storage and Reheating
If you have leftovers of this mashed red potatoes recipe, allow them to cool completely before transferring to an airtight container in the fridge. Store in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Reheat gently on the stovetop in a sauce pan until warmed through. Add extra milk and butter when you reheat them to ensure they don’t get too dry from the heat.
Check out these other delicious Side Dishes
For a cauliflower twist, try this Beef and Mushrooms with Cauliflower Mash next!
You Can Find The Full Recipe Below. If You Make This Recipe, Please Rate And Review It In The Comments, Or Share It With Me On Instagram!
You can find the full recipe below. If you make this recipe, please rate and review it in the comments, or share it with me on Instagram!
Email Recipe for Later
Recipe
Mashed Red Potatoes
Ingredients
- 3 lb red potatoes
- 1 tbsp kosher salt – for boiling potatoes
- 1 cup whole milk
- ½ stick unsalted butter 4 tbsp
- ¼ cup sour cream
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- Wash and cube red potatoes – leave the skin on. Place them in a large pot and cover with cold water. Stir in the salt.
- Place on the stove top over high heat and bring the water to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover the pot and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Check to make sure the potatoes are fork tender. Drain and immediately return to the pot while still hot.
- Place the milk, butter and sour cream in the pot and cover with the lid for a few minutes and allow the butter to melt.
- Mix in the pot with an electric hand mixer until smooth and fluffy. Taste and add salt as needed
Recipe Notes
- Mashed potatoes get saltier the longer they sit. If you are making these ahead of time, under salt them and add more salt as you reheat.
Nutrition Information
This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.
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